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05-02-2011 CCMMEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL • HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, MAY 2, 201 I Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Counciltnembers Zerwas, Westgaard, and Gumphrey Members Absent: Councilmember Motin Staff Present: City Administrator Lori Johnson, Finance Director Tim Simon, City Clerk Tina Allard, City Engineer Justin Femrite, Golf Course Superintendent Paul Anderson, Ice Arena Manager Rich Czech, Street Superintendent Phil Hals, Assistant Street Superintendent Mark Thompson, Human Resources Representative Lauren Wipper, and Recording Secretary Jennifer Johnson 1. Call Meeting To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Consider 05/02/2011 Agenda MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. MOTION • CARRIED 4-0. 3. Consider Consent Agenda Councilmember Zerwas requested that the minutes from the 04/18/11 closed (performance review) meeting be removed for a change. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING CON SENT AGENDA: 3.1. COUNCIL MINUTES ^ 04/18/11 SPECIAL * 04/18/11 REGULAR ^ 04/18/11 CLOSED (LANDFILL) 3.2. CHECK REGISTER 3.3. APPOINT PLANNING COMMISSIONER PETE LEMKE TO ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING BOARD 3.4. LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR TWO GREENCORPS MEMBERS 3.5. ANNUAL RENEWAL OF SALES/STORAGE OF RETAIL FIREWORKS LICENSE FOR MENARDS #3125 3.6. RESOLUTION 11-19 ACKNOWLEDGING CONTRIBUTION TO ELK RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT 3.7. CONSIDER LAWN AND JUNK ABATEMENT CONTRACTS 3.8. RESOLUTION 11-20 AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF • EQUIPMENT CERTIFICATES DEBT SERVICE FUNDS City Council Minutes May 2, 2011 Page 2 3.9. ACCEPTANCE OF SOLAR ENERGY LEGACY GRANT FOR THE GREAT NORTHERN TRAIL SOLAR LIGHTING PROJECT • 3.10.A. APPROVAL OF GRANT CONTRACT WITH THE MPCA FOR THE BENEFICIAL REUSE OF WASTEWATER EFFLUENT PROJECT 3.10.B. APPROVE STORM POND EROSION REPAIR 3.10.C. APPROVE CR 77 TURNBACK AGREEMENT 3.11. UPDATE TO MOBILE PHONE POLICY MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 3.1. 4/18/11 CLOSED MINUTES (PERFORMANCE REVIEW) Councilmember Zerwas requested that the minutes of the April 18, 2011 closed meeting to discuss the city administrator's performance review be changed to reflect that the meeting was continued to Apri19, 2011. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD TO APPROVE CHANGE IN THE APRIL 18, 2011 MINUTES TO REFLECT THE MEETING WAS CONTINUED TO APRIL 9, 2011. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 4. Otien Mike Chad Wurm, 824 Jackson Ave., Elk River, stated his interview was cut short during the ChandlerThinks branding consultant interviews the previous Thursday, April 28. He was concerned that his opinion wasn't heard and felt he should have been given the same • amount of face to face time as the others. Councilmember Westgaard asked if the consultant can call and spend more time with Mr. Wurm. Ms. Johnson stated that Annie Deckert did mention that Mr. Wurm's time with the consultant was a few minutes less than the others in order to stay on schedule. The consultant offered to contact Mr. Wurm to continue their discussion over the phone. Mayor Dietz apologized to Mr. Wurm and stated it wasn't intentional to cut Mr. Wurm's time short. Travis Basavage, representing the Elk River Sportsman's Club, 20309 Meadowvale Road NW, Elk River, invited the council to the upcoming tour and open house on May 17, 2011 from 3 - 6 p.m. to tour the facility and see the improvements that have been made. 5.1. 2011 Street Improvement Project Presentation -Resolution Receiving Feasibility Report and Calling_for a Public Hearing -Resolution Ordering Preparation of Plans Mr. Femrite presented the staff report and Power Point presentation outlining the street improvement project. He outlined the project and stated an open house is scheduled for May 19 and notices would be mailed to affected property owners, which would give them an • opportunity to ask questions about the project. City Council Minutes Page 3 May 2, 2011 Councilmember Westgaard stated concerns regarding Project #2 (Industrial Park area) regarding the ability to allow businesses to continue operating even during road construction, since this area requires a full depth reclamation. Mr. Femrite explained the process of the work, which would still allow for traffic to go into and out of businesses. Mayor Dietz stated he would like affected property owners to have low interest rates and a longer time to pay back the assessment during this tough economic time. He asked what the interest rate would be. Ms. Johnson stated they would allow property owners options to extend their payments should they choose. Mr. Simon stated at this time, interest rates would be around 2.5 to 3% and offer 7 years to pay the assessment. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO RECEIVE THE FEASIBILITY REPORT AND ORDER A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE IMPROVEMENT IN THE MATTER OF THE 2011 STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY • COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO AUTHORIZE THE PREPARATION OF PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS IN THE MATTER OF THE 2011 STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 5.2. Street Department Personnel Request Ms. Johnson presented the staff report. The first request was to clarify the use of the Lead Street Maintenance assignment to include days when either the Street Superintendent or Assistant Street Superintendent is absent. Mr. Thompson stated there were several people interested in the lead street maintenance assignment. He stated he would have those interested employees work with him for three or four weeks at a time to determine who would be best suited for the assignment. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS TO APPROVE THE REQUEST TO ASSIGN THE LEAD STREET MAINTENANCE ASSIGNMENT IN PLACE WHEN EITHER THE STREET SUPERINTENDENT OR ASSISTANT STREET SUPERINTENDENT IS ABSENT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. The next request was to hire additional staff to fill the 1040 hours lost by the phased retirement of Street Superintendent Phil Hals. Council had concerns with hiring a laborer, stating the money saved from the phased retirement shouldn't be spent on hiring a laborer. After some discussion, Council asked staff to evaluate the entire structure and staffing of the street department to determine what the exact needs are, and return to the June Worksession with that information before proceeding to hire an additional laborer. City Council Minutes May 2, 2011 Page 4 5.3. Request to Purchase Street Department One-Ton Truck • Mr. Thompson presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz asked if he knew how much the city could sell the 1998 GMC one-ton truck that was being replaced with the new purchase. Mr. Thompson stated the city could probably sell the 1998 GMC one-ton truck for approximately $3,000 to $3,500 at auction. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE REQUEST TO PURCHASE AONE-TON TRUCK BY THE STREET DEPARTMENT AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 5.4. Annua12011 Mayor's Pinewood Open Mr. Anderson presented the staff report. He stated he would like to see over 50 golfers register for the 6~h Annual Mayor's Pinewood Open on June 23, at 2:00 p.m. Mayor Dietz asked if they were able to grill hotdogs and brats during the event instead of catering the event. Mr. Anderson stated they would be able to cook them on their hotdog roller as long as they don't sell them for profit. He would check to see if they could have a grill outside. • Mayor Dietz stated the proceeds would be donated to CAER food shelf and to be sure to promote that when advertising. 5.5. Consider Code of Civility Posting Ms. Allard presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz stated he liked the wording of the code of civility that was outlined in the staff report, noting he did not want to limit the number of minutes for people to address the council. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS TO APPROVE AND POST THE CODE OF CIVILITY AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 5.6. Ice Arena Update Mr. Czech presented the staff report. He stated the Ice Arena Commission would be holding a special meeting on May 4 to discuss the ice arena improvement project. He explained the areas of concern with the condition of the arena; the first area of concern for the arena was the roof and how to prevent it from leaking by either placing a membrane over the current roof, or to completely replace the roof. The second area of concern was climate control, noting the current dehumidification system is subpar to keep up with the needs of the arena. Councilmember Dietz asked how much money the school district contributes to the arena. • City Council Minutes May 2, 2011 Page 5 • Mr. Czech stated that the High School teams pay the hourly rate for ice time and that the arena receives a percentage of the gate fees from the High School games. He stated they were in the process of renegotiating the yearly contract with the school district and told the school district he would like to have their agreement be similar to Roger's agreement, which would bring more revenue into the arena. Council decided to wait until after the special ice arena commission meeting on May 4 before discussing ice arena designs. It was decided to have a joint meeting with the Ice Arena Commission at the June 13 Worksession. Mr. Czech then explained the arena rental rates of our arena as well as surrounding arenas. Mayor Dietz expressed concerns with the amount of money the school district pays for their students to use the arena. He was concerned that if the arena needed improvements, in order to avoid raising rates too high, that the school district should be assisting financially with needed improvements. Councilmember Westgaard felt that rates should be increased to cover operating costs of the arena. He stated the City has a strong hockey program and would like to see that continue. Mr. Czech stated that it is a fine line between raising rates to high and covering operations costs. If the cost per skater is too high, families with recreational players or families that could no longer afford the extra expenses may opt out of playing hockey for another sport. Mr. Czech noted that then the Association would then lose numbers and thus not purchase • as many hours from the Arena. Councilmember Zerwas also stated the school district needs to provide more financial support to the arena and help cover some of the costs for the improvements. Discussions continued regarding the ice rental rates. Mr. Czech stated the proposed rate of $180 an hour during peak time and $145 during off-peak times was approved by the Ice Arena Commission. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS TO APPROVE THE 2011 ICE ARENA RATES AT $180/HOUR FOR PEAK RATES AND $145 FOR OFF-PEAK RATES AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. MOTION CARRIED 3-1. COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD OPPOSED. 5.7. Parks and Recreation Director Update Ms. Johnson stated that she, Mayor Dietz, and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Dave Anderson would be meeting to discuss options on how to move forward with filling this position. An update would be given at the next council meeting. 5.8. Traffic Signal System Painting Mr. Femrite presented the staff report. He recommended accepting the low quote received from OLS Restoration, Inc. in the amount of $24,982.00. • City Council Minutes May 2, 2011 Page 6 He asked if the council would be interested in updating the color of the traffic signal mast . arms to a dark brown. He stated this look would fit the city branding plan and allow for a more urban streetscape. He stated if they did update to dark brown that eventually all of the city's yellow, green, and aluminum would be painted dark brown. Council agreed to change the paint color to dark brown. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER WESTGAARD AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO ACCEPT THE LOW QUOTE RECEIVED FROM OLS RESTORATION, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $24,982.00 TO COMPLETE THE PAINTING OF SELECTED TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS IN ELK RIVER AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 5.9. Discuss Council Worksession Agendas Ms. Johnson presented the staff report. There were concerns with time constraints on the May 9 Worksession due to the joint meeting with the Ramsey City Council. It was decided to have a Worksession after the May 16 regular council meeting to discuss the sidewalk snowplowing polity and vision and action steps. It was decided that if time ran short, they could move the volunteer recognition program, financial model, and 2012 budget goals and timelines to the May 16 Worksession. 6. Other Business There was no other business. Council Updates There were no council updates. 8. Staff Updates Ms. Johnson stated Case Hayward would be retiring at the end of summer. On Friday, April 29, the City became owners of the downtown Houlton parking lots. She stated Mr. Femrite and Steve Benoit would be inspecting the lots to determine their condition and to ensure the proper signage was in place but didn't anticipate any major changes to these lots. Ms. Johnson presented a photo collage she received from the Three Rivers Community Foundation recognizing two residents and their volunteer service work in the community, John Weicht and John Kuester. It would be placed in the City Hall awards display case. Mayor Dietz discussed the informational memo in the packet from Environmental Administrator Rebecca Haug regarding Jim Rosman and the recent discussion regarding the Mississippi River and his desire to use it as an economic development tool. The Army Corps of Engineers were not in favor of placing buoys along the Mississippi River as discussed to assist in making it more accessible for boaters. Council requested Ms. Haug write a letter to Mr. Rossman and explain that Council will not take further action on this request. 9. Adjournment • There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City • Council at 8:17 p.m. City Council Minutes May 2, 2011 • Minutes prepared by Jennifer Johnson. / ~ , l'~ Tina/./All/ard, City Clerk t f. J n J.4 ietz, ayo • Page 7